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I'm going to be putting a mini golf in my backyard. The gophers have destroyed the lawn, so I am going to cover it with astroturf and a few putting holes.

I will post pics as time progresses.

Teaser:

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    Awesome! 😁 You need a Bill Murray avatar. — joebert
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    I always dreamed to put mini golf on my backyard, but I have no spot to place it. — Samuraii
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    Man, I love this thread. I can't wait to see how this turns out. 👍 — digitalMedia
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    Just finished reading from beginning to end. Very nice work. It is always nice to someone's ideas become reality. — 2Direct
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    The idea is very good. One of my friends made a mini-golf course for her house and ordered her outfits with online shopping. Every day of the evening, in the summer, with their kids, they go to their backyard and enjoy the whole thing. The kids play the game and love it! — howard_moore
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    I want to have one in my backyard too! — Roulette73
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nice ... my neighbours did that ... it was fun for about 5 months ...

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    Yes, I can see that. It would have its limitations. So what I plan on doing, is making just holes, not an entire putt course. This way the yard is not forced to be mini-golf. It's just a nice lawn that I don't need to cut..oh and it happens to have some golf puts in it if you want to play. — camperjohn
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    I remember when I was about 10 or 12 out in the back yard hitting golf balls at the garage. And my dad coming out and yelling at me "MIKE! CUT IT OUT DAMMIT! YOU'RE DENTIN' THE SIDING." Ah...memories. — kc0tma
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    Haha. Same thing for me with tennis. Serving at the garage door. lol — righteous_trespasser
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So yesterday I had this guy come and give me a quote on putting the fake lawn in. The booth at the show said $8 to $12 per square foot. When I told him this, he immediatly frowned and said the girls had no idea how much it costs (even though at the booth there were only guys).

After talking, he gave me a quote of $13,000 for my 600sqft backyard. Um, that's about $21.60 square foot.

Checking online, you can buy the turf for about $2 to $6 per square foot. So the cost for the material is $1800, and the cost to install it is $11,200? I don't think so.

I told him I think I will keep looking around.

I think he thought I was an easy kill and could rip me off and I would have no idea.

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    Surely there's more to what he was going to do than drop turf ? 🤔 — joebert
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    I am a student at SDSU and recently put down a very nice putting green for my dad's beach in Huntington beach. If you want, I will install it in exchange for some programming or website design tips. I am really new to programming, but I can definitely lay turf! What kind of mini-golf are you looking for. The one I did for my Dad was about 10 feet by 20 feet practice green as you would see at a golf course. Now if you want actual minigolf I could start creating a list of materials and designing some holes, or you could design them and I will get that minigolf course down in the most cost-effective way possible. All it will take is a couple of my buddies from SDSU and a 30 pack and you got yourself a full day's labor team! — Chief_of_Information
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    I just may take you up on that offer. I am excavating right now, and soon will be pouring concrete for the Jacuzzi slab. But after that I will be doing the lawn itself. Are you free for a day or two around August 1? That's when I think I will have the concrete work done and will be starting the turf. Give me your email and phone number. Mine is john@mccarthy.net at (858) 678-0197 — camperjohn
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So the excavation is almost complete. I thought it would take 1 day to remove the earth from the backyard, so far it is almost 7 days of work and it's still not done. About 90% done though.

There is way more earth than I thought. 6 inches * 860 square feet is a lot of earth.

Next comes laying forms for concrete curbs and the patio forms. I am putting a large patio where you see that lollipop tree.

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    Forms for curbs? Have you looked into a curb machine (not necessarily that brand), those things are awesome for residential projects. — joebert
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    I have, but not really excited about it. I need some tall curbs, some short. I am not sure how it can be done. I guess I should investigate first - you're right. — camperjohn
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    I've never seen one of those machines that does curbs higher than about 6-8" at the rental places around here. Looking at your last photo there now I'm guessing roughly 18" for that part along the left side around to the fence. 😟 — joebert
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    Yes the places I called said they only did 6 inch curbs. I think I will have to do it with forms. I do need a 10 inch curb. — camperjohn
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For this project, I need a tamper to compact the crushed granit before I lay the fake lawn. Rather than renting a tamper for $80 a day, which would turn out to be 3 days at $240, I figured would buy one, then sell it later. I could use it when I want for how long I want.

I was looking for a used one, they go for about $600-$750 on craigslist used, as they are about $1800 new.

Then I found a going out of business sale from a construction company. They happened to have a tamper, brand new, for $550.

Here is the tamper I bought. Brand spankin' new, still in it's crate.

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    nice work on the bargain find. i love it when things like that happen 😁 — musik
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Yes, so far this project has been a breeze. Everything I need has fallen into my hands.

Did I mention the truck I got?

I was out looking at pickup trucks, thinking to trade in my Lincoln LS (http://www.neverbuyalincoln.com) and get a truck. I was pricing them out, and visiting dealerships all Sunday about 4 weeks ago.

THAT EVENING, only hours after looking at trucks, my friend calls and asks if I can sell her truck in San Diego, because it's not selling in FallBrook. She wants to drop her truck off at my house and have me sell it for her.

So only hours after looking at pickups, I have a free truck sitting in my driveway. All I have to do is sell it after I am finished using it.

I must have an angel. But I have no idea why. I don't deserve it.

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    🤣 hah! I love it when things fall into place like that! Can't wait to see your course once it's all done. Sounds like a cool idea, certainly will save on mowing costs 😉 — musik
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    Hahaha Nice! — righteous_trespasser
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The concrete is done. I was going to do it myself, but just for fun, I called a finisher and asked how much he would do it for.

It was soooo worth it to have someone else do it. $1100 for two guys for two days. One day to set the forms, the other to pour the concrete.

Final pour - the white stuff is salt to give it texture that I will sweep off after it is dry.

$1000 in concrete (colored, with fiber)
$1100 in labor
$250 in wood, decomposed granite and rebar
$220 for pump truck

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    I'm starting to get curious about what exactly that guy who wanted $13K was going to do. It looks like you're racking up expenses quick. — joebert
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    Well, the guy that wanted $13k was probably going to buy himself something really nice with his $10000 profit. The lawn will cost about $2500+. Remember, the 13k didn't include the concrete that I am just installed. He wanted that just for the fake lawn. — camperjohn
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    Oh wow. Was he going to come out and cut it for you once a week for life? 😉 — joebert
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    Woah nice work on the concrete, certainly pays to shop around 🙂 what a rip-off $13k the guy probably thought you had money to burn or he just didn't want to do the job. — musik
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    Yeah, I really like the concrete work. I am sooo glad I didn't try to do it myself. It looks sooooo good. Next comes power washing the main deck. The color of the main deck has faded since it is really dirty. So I bought a power washer from craigslist and will strip all the grime off of it. This is a huge project... — camperjohn
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    It'll be worth it once its done though. I've powerwashed a wood deck before, it takes ages and I found left streaks all over it 🤣 DOH — musik
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    Did you acid wash it? I am acid washing it today and that should get rid of the streaks. — camperjohn
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    Naa I just meant with the high-pressure hose with water, anything comes off easy 😁 — musik
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You know what's funny? Every time I've read this thread I keep thinking to myself, I would have just shot the gophers and planted a Japanese garden.

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    I hope you don't program the same way: "Yeah, just write a quick hack and leave work early". 😉 I live in a canyon. How many gophers would you shoot before you figure out that gophers have babies? — camperjohn
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    *lol just teasing. I actually love animals. Even gophers. — Mark Bowker
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    gophers are cute 😁 — celandine
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JO
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Gopher from Caddyshack

Caddyshack

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    god, that looks like a mutant gopher from outer space. — celandine
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The synthetic lawn has arrived.

This project has become way bigger than I thought, but is sooo worth it.

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    added bonus - you'll have the nice plastic wrapping to roll the dead bodies into before disposal 😁 — celandine
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    You should get one of the gophers stuffed and clearcoated so you can have it sitting on top of the hole(s) when you're not playing. — joebert
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    Haha that is SUCH a good idea!!! — camperjohn
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Almost finished the patio resurfacing

After:

And my putters have arrived.

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    Those putters look awesome. Real old-school putt-putt. — righteous_trespasser
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    Yes, that is what I was going for. I wanted bi-directional putters. I didn't want the modern putters they have now.I think those are just gimmicks — camperjohn
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    they look like marvin the martian's Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator-based putters. Funny how usually old-school stuff is best. — celandine
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    Yeah, just today, people go out of their minds trying to get this to make work easier for people. Yeah, that is probably better (or just to make things look cool 🤣 ), but it made many people fat 😱 — Bogey
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The rope lighting has arrived:

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    wow, that looks HOT. Really does. — righteous_trespasser
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    Have you put anything in for drainage, or will rainwater just collect on the greens? Also those lights look damn good. — spork
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    I have 3/4 gravel under the lawn. The water drains to the gravel, then out to about 4 drains that go to the city. The lights aren't bright enough though. It was supposed to look like in the photo, but it's really dim lights. More suited for wrapping around a tree. I am not sure what to do about them. — camperjohn
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    Are they running directly from the house's power supply or do they have their own? — righteous_trespasser
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    I'm assuming you don't have more than 42 feet of the 2.5W per-foot rope connected to one of the 105W transformers? Actually, it looks like they suggest a max run of 30 feet. — joebert
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    I have 30 feet of rope lighting, which is MAX, and it's hooked up to a 300watt supply. Just that I think the lights are intended for indoors and direct-view (as opposed to ultra-bright, indirect viewing). You can't look directly at a 60watt light bulb - you need a lampshade, but these lights are dim enough, that you can look directly at them. I can't send it back, since I already cut it (you have to cut it to test it, since the max is 30 feet, and it's a 150-foot roll). So I am thinking I will put them in front of the concrete, or sell it on Craiglist, or something. Don't know what to do yet. — camperjohn
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    More photos, someone is bound to think of something. 😁 — joebert
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    When the rope lightnings burn out, do you have to take out the whole rope and put in new bulbs? — George L.
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    The rope lights last for 30,000 hours. Then you have to replace them. Which means if they are on 8 hours a night, they will burn out in 10 years. I will post more pics and let people make suggestions. — camperjohn
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    Can you buy LED rope lights? I have a feeling they'd be a lot brighter than normal bulbs. — spork
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    I actually thought these were the LED version. I don't think I got the right thing. On the website, there are LED rope lights for $270 compared to $67. If there are brighter ones, I don't think I would be willing to pay that much for the rope lights. I will probably sell this on a spool on craigslist and then decide. — camperjohn
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    Checking their website, they have a 120volt, ultra-bright rope lighting set for $121. The non-ultra bright is $400, don't know why the bright stuff is cheaper. I think I will buy that and hook it up to a relay for the 12volts. The relay will power a switch that will turn on the 120volts. First I must sell the 12volt rope lights I have since their return policy doesn't allow me to return them. — camperjohn
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    Congratulations for the work that you have done. Truly is pretty! Happy putting! — ArTsYwRiTeR
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    Thanks. It was wayyy more work than I thought. Mostly because when I started I just thought I would put in the fake lawn, which then turned into putting curbing and fake lawn, which then turned into a new patio and curbing and fake lawn, which then turned into new lights, etching, and resurfacing the existing patio, spreading chips on the old garden, LED lights in the cups, electricity by the new patio, water supply, cool rope lighting, a new power supply for the larger wattage lights, new spotlight....and new patio and curbing and fake lawn. I officially hate golf. — camperjohn
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    In the end, when you get done, you will feel proud of the work. I'm sure your neighbors would be jealous. You might make them pay an entrance fee to play golf lol. — Bogey
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    Or maybe you or your wife will get a transfer at work and you will have to move cross country and leave the new personal golf course behind. — kc0tma
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    lol. That's probably the worst-case scenario. — Bogey
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I checkedd out online for colored golf balls. You can get them, but only in packs of 10. So to get 8 different colors, I would have to buy 80 stupid balls.

So I went down to the local mini putt and asked if I could buy 10 golf balls. I think they thought I was nuts, but here are 10 official mini-putt balls for a whopping $5

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    Awesome. Looks like you will be playing golf soon 😛 — Bogey
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    I like that they came from a real mini-putt golf course...it's like they are "authentic". Real people played with these only hours before on real course... — camperjohn
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    They look like gumballs! hehehe — ArTsYwRiTeR
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    hehe yeah you're right, hehe ... I would love a gumball right now ... — righteous_trespasser
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    Do golf balls get "broken in" ? 🤔 — joebert
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    I don't think so, but some of the balls are smoother than the others. Suggesting that when they have been around the mini-putt course 17,340 times, they do wear down. Today I am really excited. The yard is nearly tamped down, the guys to install come tomorrow, and by Sunday night it will be DONE! God it's been alot of work. I hate golf. — camperjohn
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The last step: leveling and tamping the putting surface, then installing the lawn.

Tomorrow I have two guys coming to my house to install the lawn. Just like the concrete patio; I did most of the grunt work, then I hired two guys to finish the job professionally.

So sunday, it will all be done.

JM

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    So the guys that were supposed to install the lawn....didn't even show up today. Um, $1200 and they didn't show up... weird... — camperjohn
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    We used to have a saying at one place I worked, "No call, no show, no job". Any reason they would have second thoughts about doing it? 🤔 I've always loved the jobs where all of the "grunt work" is done and all I have to do is fly in and button things up. — joebert
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    I actually should have expected it. I was referred to this guy from another guy, that said "he's good, but has issues with being late". So he is currently about 9 hours late. Still have no idea if he is good. I posted for another crew on Craigslist. I'm sure I can find a crew that will take my money. — camperjohn
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JO
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How thick is that stuff ?
How is it held down ?
Do the holes go in before or after the turf ?

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    The stuff is about 3/8 inch thick. It's not flimsy. The cups/holes get put in concrete before anything. They are wrapped in mylar plastic, then after the concrete sets, they are removed and just concrete molds are left. The lawn is then put over it and held down in place with sand. They work the sand into the lawn to hold it down, lots of it too. The sand makes it look and feel like a real putting green (as real putting green is planted in sand, not earth). The holes for the cups are then cut out, and the plastic cups are placed back into the concrete molds. It doesn't look fake at all so far. The lawn is thick and the sand in it looks nice. I am surprised. — camperjohn
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    Yeah, that stuff definitely doesn't look flimsy in the photo, I was way off on the concrete height and that turf looks like it's 1/2 - 1 inch thick so I figured I'd ask this time. I never would have thought that stuff was held into place with sand, I've got a new wrinkle on my forehead over that one. As far as obstacles, even you don't manage to stuff a real gopher, I think there should at least be plastic or concrete one around the course somewhere. That way whenever someone asks what made you do it, you can just point to the gopher. — joebert
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BO
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Can't wait to see the picture of the finished putting green 😁 I've being following this thread like the mini golf was being put into my backyard...

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    Haha, well if you are ever in San Diego, feel fre to email me and come over for a game! I am having a party Sept 13'th and inviting all my friends. I even made a little scorecard for people to play. Today I was thinking of obstacles. Stuff like odd-shaped bricks or stepping stones that you could bank the ball off of. I don't want to make the windmills and gorrilas, but I would like to have some sort of classy / modern art style of obstacles. — camperjohn
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    Maybe some old HDDs and CD-Roms and such ... lol ... — righteous_trespasser
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    Giant concrete spork? — spork
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    Or maybe some samurai legends. With their bases in odd shapes so they could be obstacles. — righteous_trespasser
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As far as obstacles, even you don't manage to stuff a real gopher, I think there should at least be plastic or concrete one around the course somewhere. That way whenever someone asks what made you do it, you can just point to the gopher.

Well, I at LEAST need to make a "No Gophers" sign!!!

Like this:

You are 150 yards from the center of green

Actually I just thought of it, next week my mom arrives, and she LOVES going to garage sales. She will be a wealth of useful garage sale eyes looking for useless stuff to go in course.

The idea is that anything I put out there, I can remove later. Someday I will sell the house, and I will need it to look like a professional putting course. Until then, it's windmills and gorillas, and whatever else.

By the way, If you think I am a do it yourselfer, has everyone seen the 200 foot trainset I put in my house?

And the Tardis comuter case I made to quiet my computer?

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The lawn is not complete. It will be done 100% tomorrow, then I will take more pics. Until then, here is a sample of 2 months ago, and $9000 ago:

New lights, new patio, old patio resurfacing, putting green.

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    Man that is seriously a night and day difference. Very nice. — Mark Bowker
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WHAT WAS I THINKING??!?!? Webmasters don't need to wait until work is done to see what it will look like:

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    Oh now that's good, but if you were really good you would have replaced and positioned your patio furniture too *lol — Mark Bowker
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Oh now that's good, but if you were really good you would have replaced and positioned your patio furniture too *lol

Better?

OH GOD I JUST REALIZED. I could have dug a 3 foot hole, and made a replaceable golf hole shaft that replaces with a stripper pole.

Too late now. 😟

Day 1 of final install:

  • Weed barrier down
  • Golf cups cut and cemented in place
  • Wires to lights in place
  • All putting green surface cut and seamed
  • Areas for Fringe marked out
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    lmfao. -- OK it figures. Dude you need to enter some of our digital art competitions. — Mark Bowker
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    lololol ... That is freakin awesome ... — righteous_trespasser
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    🤣 ...MAO — digitalMedia
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    one change I would make is that she is on the holes flag..... 😛 — jflynn
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    By the looks of the surrounding landscape getting sand shouldn't be a problem lol. — Mark Bowker
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    It is really pretty! My son would drool if he saw that. He is just 4 but he has been starting to do some golfing with his uncle. My ex boss bought him a junior set and I hide it here are home to prevent serious damage to anything lol. — ArTsYwRiTeR
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JO
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Any idea what type of resale value this thing adds to the house ?

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    I don't know if this helps the value or hurts it. Depends on if the new buyer is a golfer I guess. You know what you need now? a sandtrap and a place to work on your chips. lol — jflynn
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    I actually had a sandtrap in the original design, but everyone said dont do it. They said its a huge pain in the ass, cats pooping in it, and the sand constantly pours onto the lawn. Here is day two: Lunch time. Fringe area is getting placed — camperjohn
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It's been kinda hard to tell so far, but now I think I see some. Are there any hills in the course, or is it all flat ?

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    There are 3 hills. I should have put more. I was worried that there would be bumps all over the place. I was so worried, that I was out late at night with a laser beam checking the surface. Now that it is done and nice and flat, I realize that I should have put more hills. Not bumps, but hills. Bumps are not desirable, but I could have put at least 3 more 4 to 6 foot hills. — camperjohn
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DONE!!! Holy crap it was alot of work.

Now all there is to do, is clean up the garage, and sell all the materials and tools, and PARTY!

And a quick reminder, side by side:

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JO
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Nice.

So I don't have to dig through pages I've already read, about how much would you say you saved doing it the way you did instead of having the guy you mentioned do it ?

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    I will add it up, but off the top of my head, I spent about $9000 to build this, and it would have cost about $20000. $13k for the lawn, $6k for the patio, about $700 for main patio resurfacing, and at LEAST the remaining $300 someplace in lights and other stuff. — camperjohn
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    Correction, cost about $21,000. I forgot about all the yard work, new bark chips, new power transformer. I'm sure I will get my money back when I sell the house, if I ever have the guts to move. — camperjohn
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That is friggin awesome. I want a mini golf course in my back yard.

As an aside, here is another vid I shot at the 1st Annual Ozzu Webmaster Forum Meet-up at Bigwebmasters house...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2Sh2tAhyB0

Who let that guy Greg in anyways?

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And now for some photos at night:

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    That is really cool. I mean fixing up your backyard would have been good by itself, but that takes the cake. — digitalMedia
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    For some reason i never really started reading this topic. Because of the interest in it i felt i should see what it's all about and i must admit that i admire the work you've done. If i had some land of my own i'd most likely do the same thing. You've done a really good job! How will that cope with rain/snow (if you get much in San Diego)? — Craig C.
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    It really doesn't rain in San Diego. There is drainage in the lawn, with about 5 different drains in the bottom of the course, but it really doesn't rain here. Maybe about 10 days a year it rains. I was told when I moved to San Diego, that I would get bored of the sun. I thought they were crazy "How could one get bored of sunny days, every day?", but after a while it's true. The forecast for each and every day is sun and no clouds, 69-81 degrees from winter to summer. I can ride my motorbike all year round - even in the middle of winter. But it DOES get boring. When it rains I go out and look at it. I actually wish it would rain more just so I could see it. It snows about once every 15,000 years. I think the next snowfall is scheduled for the year 4000 as our last ice age was 11,000 years ago (give or take a few days) — camperjohn
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    I know exactly what you mean. I was living in Melbourne, Australia between september last year and Feb this year and between the 20th of December right up till 20th of January we had nothing but sun and high temperatures. It was great, but part of me wished it would rain just a little bit. I am from Scotland where it rains more or less every day of the year, so it really does take something for me to actually miss the rain a bit like i did in January. — Craig C.
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    Wow. It looks amazing. and I took a look at some of your other DIY projects. I wish I had the motivation and money, not to mention the skill to do that sort of thing. And also, I don't think my parents would be too happy about me ripping up the back lawn. xD — swanniebroo
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Wow I made the front page of OZZU!!!

I feel like a celebrity...only without the hot chicks, fancy cars and alcohol abuse.

Next comes a mixer party to meet girls.

See, there was a method in my madness!! 🙂

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    ok john, you are one seriously strange character. heh heh but that's hardly breaking news. congrats on making the front page. Well deserved. The green is terribly pretty, especially in the evenings. The ad is a very interesting idea - curious how the photo of you is larger than the photo of the green, though. I guess it accentuates the party priorities 😁 good luck with the project!! PS - when one gets sick of staring at the sun, one can take a trip to somewhere where it rains or snows 🙂 Aspen is pretty nice I hear, and Khatmandu has a lot to recommend it. and if it's rain you're after, most of Asia gives splendid monsoons at certain times of year - and there's always the UK, where it rains perpetually (don't trust anyone who says otherwise) ...and you never know what kinds of interesting girls you can meet abroad... wink 😉 EDIT: ....why are you in the 'strictly platonic' section...?? — celandine
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    I don't get it. EDIT: oh, plural... So this is something you didn't figure out before? Regarding the 'strictly platonic' section, because I am not interested in finding a woman. I am interested in finding a woman, to help me organize a party. — camperjohn
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I can't sit still. Today I made all the pieces for a 12x12 pergola.

(By the way, this is a Pergola)

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    I say we all hook up at camperjohn's house for a minigolf and pergola warming party. How about this Friday? Is everyone free? 🤣 — digitalMedia
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    Very nice nobody I know has anything as nice as that. and I'm not free Friday. I have to do a practice run for a wedding I'm playing piano at. — Mr OBrien
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    12:00 noon. Done! Now I just need to put canvas on top for shade. I will probably get the $5 per yard canvas, any color. — camperjohn
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BO
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Camperjohn... what's next? 🤣

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    Dunno what's next. First the pergola, then maybe a fountain, then maybe a hottub, maybe a fire pit, or a stripper pole. What are your suggestions? — camperjohn
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    All of the above? — spork
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    ...and a keg cooler with a tap! 👍 — digitalMedia
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    fake beach with volleyball court ? — righteous_trespasser
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    Your own movie theater? — Mr OBrien
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    Great Idea ... — righteous_trespasser
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    I was thinking next comes an air hockey table, or ping pong table... — camperjohn
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    I vote for a large hot tub with a stripper pole in the middle of it. so girls could launch themselves from the edge, catch the pole and slide stylishly into the pool, fireman style. Trampoline? I love those... they could be fun at bouncy-bouncy parties! 😁 — celandine
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Did you do the whole back yard? I figured you had just a little spot in the corner where you were doing it, and if that grass is real grass then you need to start a lawn care business. 🙂

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    Very nice job.Looks like a pro made it. So what do you have on your list next? That air hockey table, ping pong table, or none of the above? — Mr OBrien
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    Yes, I did the whole backyard. The entire thing in fake lawn. I actually don't have much lawn, about 600 square feet. Thats only 30x20 feet if you had it square. My lawn is just all curvy - which I like since it looks like a mini-fairway. Next, I need a nap. Like about a 40 week nap. I lost 10 lbs doing this. I love how this project started out: "I think I want to put fake lawn in my backyard" I said to my friend. It grew to a monster project - but was totally worth it. — camperjohn
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    Oh, I know what I need next. I need lights inside the pergola, along with a couch, and a widescreen TV in weatherproof housing. I do have cable TV to the outside of my house in the backyard (yes, I thought of everything). — camperjohn
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    You know what would be REALLY cool? If you had a little tablet pc or a pda or something that you could control the entire entertainment center and the lighting and the hot tub, and shoot even the bbq-q grill. That would be ssssssssweet. — kc0tma
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    I second that notion. — righteous_trespasser
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I just noticed in this photo, that if you look at the before and after photos, you can see that trees and shrubs actually grew from the time I started the project to when I finished it.

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    Plants tend to do that 😛 😁 Quite annoying, actually. — Breeze
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    Well, they did have the summer growing season, maybe if you had started in November. Looks great! Now you should do my lawn, it's 10,000 sq ft. lol — jflynn
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    I think I am lucky how I have such a small backyard. I can make it looks really nice - almost Disneylandish, without having to spend $50k. With only 600 square feet, I can add lots of stuff and spend my money efficiently. I finished the canvas top on the pergola today. When I was going to buy the canvas, they didn't have enough of the color I wanted and it was going to be special ordered. I am wayyy to impatient for that so I went to the bargin bin, and got just the right amount, in a better color for half the price. — camperjohn
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    your going to have to get on your roof and take picture of the entire yard. — jflynn
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JO
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How's the course holding up after ~ a year ? 😁

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    One cup-light has burnt out, and I hade to replace it. A little $2 LED from online. We also had a windstorm in San Diego that tore the top off the pergola. It was only stapled down lightly and I will add extra strong staples and a wood runner to hold it down. Wind storms generally happen around Jan/Feb each year here in San Diego. The course looks great though. I've had several parties and everyone loves to grab a putter and play. Since re-doing the backyard, I have also replaced all the furniture in my house (sold ALL on craigslist an bought all replacement stuff from Craigslist for about the same money), painted all the rooms, bought a ping pong table, an air hockey table, a pool table, a "High Speed Pinball" machine from Williams, and have a Robotron from Williams. I have the total party house now. Yes, I'm single. You can have an arcade in your house when you are single. — camperjohn
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    Oh and I also put a disco ball in my living room. Best $19 I ever spent!! — camperjohn
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    Sounds awesome!!!!! — jflynn
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JO
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How's the course holding up these days ? 😁

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    The course is a hit at every party. Still looking good. 3 of the LED lights burnt out and I had to replace them. So I will not buy from oznium again, but will try to find someone else that supplies 12 volt LED lights. On another note, I had a flood in my house about 3 weeks ago and will be repainting the entire downstairs and installing all-new hardwood floors. It's an insurance job. — camperjohn
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